Thorns
by Nik Strata
Summary: Dear Reader, I don't really know what to tell you. Um, my name is Briar Bluerock; my mentor is Altair Torneau; I use cards to perform magic; I'm on a covert team of superheroes that works with the Justice League... I think that's it, really. Uh... welcome to my story?


**Washington D.C.**

 **July 4, 14:00 EDT**

Briar Bluerock studied the deck of cards in her hands, which she'd divided in half and shuffled a few times. She shuffled them a fourth time and focused on the man in front of her—her mentor, Altair Torneau.

He was a hair taller than most with a slim physique and eyes that looked like the surface of Jupiter. His hair was cropped short and almost white, although Briar credited that to his old age. Altair, despite having the looks of a man in his thirties, was about one hundred years old.

The silence in the air was somewhat comforting to her as they waited for everyone to arrive. The only sound that she took in was her cards fluttering as she shuffled them again. Briar turned her attention to the protégé on her right. Robin was a young boy who was about her age, who wore a domino mask to cover his eyes and, as Batman's protégé, a utility belt with everything he needed in it. He was a bit taller than Briar, but it wasn't surprising—most people towered over her.

A glance in her other direction revealed Green Arrow—a blond archer who usually seemed to have some sort of joke to crack—along with his protégé, Speedy—another archer, with red hair and eyes also covered by a domino mask.

Briar could barely see them, but she figured that if the other mentor/protégé pairs were here, Aquaman and Aqualad would be here too.

"Today's the day." Batman's voice drew her attention as he gave his protégé a slight smile.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," Green Arrow said, gesturing to the large building dedicated to the members of the Justice League in front of them.

"Headquarters of the Justice League," Aquaman added.

"Oh, man," another voice whined. "I knew we'd be the last ones here!" Briar turned, seeing two blurs that abruptly stopped, allowing her eyes to focus enough to see Kid Flash and his mentor the Flash. She couldn't help but grin at them as they joined the line-up of protégés and mentors. Out of the group, she found Kid Flash to be the funniest and she loved to see his reactions to certain things. He was definitely someone she had trouble predicting the actions of.

As a group, they walked into the building. Briar tucked her cards back into their case before stuffing it into the pocket of her suit. If they weren't busy, maybe she could convince the boys to play a few games with her later. She took in all the flashing lights and murmurs of the people around them as they neared the building.

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" she heard Green Arrow ask Speedy.

"Born that way," he replied.

Aqualad, who hadn't spoken a word since his arrival, finally spoke up, "I'm glad we're all here."

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asked, looking back to the group.

" _Don't_ call us sidekicks; not after today." Speedy glowered at Kid Flash, offended at being called a "sidekick."

"Sorry. First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed."

Robin glanced at him. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed; why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

"Now, tell me this, Robin, how can one be, as you say, 'just whelmed?'" Briar asked, genuinely curious.

Robin looked to her with a small smile on his lips, shaking his head, as if amazed that she could speak as they entered the building, seeing statues of the Justice League's founding members proudly lined in front of them.

Robin's eyes widened under his mask while she watched as he turned from her to face the golden statues. "Oh. Maybe that's why," she notes the surprise in his voice and turns to look at them as well.

They were quite impressive. Superman was in the center, and to his left were Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter. To his right were golden statues of Batman, the Flash, and Aquaman. Briar grinned, her excitement renewed at the sight of the statues.

Sleek sliding doors opened, revealing Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter. "Robin, Speedy, Briar, Aqualad, Kid Flash, welcome." Martian Manhunter turned back to face the sliding doors as they continued the tour. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked gallery, and, of course, our library."

Briar felt excitement bubble in her stomach at the mention of the library, which they had entered as the Martian spoke. The room had a fair number of bookshelves in it, each of them overflowing with books, and Briar soon found herself paying more attention to them than the heroes who'd given her access to the library.

A robotic voice nabbed her attention again. "Recognized: Batman, 0-2; Aquaman, 0-6; Flash, 0-4; Altair, 0-9; Green Arrow, 0-8; Martian Manhunter, 0-7; Red Tornado, 1-6."

Before she could go back to marveling the bookshelves, Speedy exclaimed, "That's it?! You promised us a real look inside—not a glorified backstage pass!" He crossed his arms over his chest, his voice laden with spite as he glared at the members of the Justice League with contempt.

"It's a first step. You've been granted access few others get," Aquaman said sternly.

"Oh, really?" The ginger archer gestured to a group of civilians who stood behind a pane of glass, staring at them like they were each a rare commodity. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

Green Arrow tried to step in. "Roy, you just need to be patient."

"What I _need_ is respect!" Speedy turned to the protégés as Briar moved to stand between Robin and Kid Flash, more interested in seeing an angry Speedy than the books around her. "They're treating us like kids! Worse—like _sidekicks!_ We deserve better than this!"

Briar and the others glanced at each other briefly before turning back to him, none of them having anything to say. They'd been shown the Hall of Justice—the HQ of the Justice League—in more detail than just the library and the lobby, which was more than what most people ever got to see. Couldn't Speedy just be thankful for being able to go to parts unexplored by tourists? Did he really have to get so angry over a bit of glass?

"You're kidding, right? You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be _the_ day; step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League."

Kid Flash was the only one to respond, looking to the others as he did. "Well, sure. But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ."

Briar's jaw dropped as she looked to her mentor, who shifted uncomfortably under her intense gaze, not wanting to believe he'd keep something like this from her. She shook her head slightly. No. Surely Altair wouldn't keep something like that from her. He trusted her enough to tell her about the League when he thought she was ready to hear it, and he'd told her about the Hall of Justice too. There wasn't much he _didn't_ tell her, actually.

"I bet they never told you it's a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the real thing—an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

She looked past Speedy as he revealed the new information, seeing Green Arrow turn to Batman, who crossed his arms over his chest, scowling disapprovingly at him. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?" Green Arrow asked, causing Batman to fix him with a stern glare. "Or not."

Aquaman stepped toward Speedy, "You're _not_ helping your cause here, son. Stand down or—"

"Or what? You'll send me to my room?" Speedy glared up at him. "And I'm _not_ your son! I'm not even his." He gave Green Arrow a brief glare. "I thought I was his partner, but not anymore." Speedy angrily threw his Robin Hood-eque hat to the floor, storming toward the doors. He turned back to the other protégés. "Guess they're right about you four." The remaining protégés stood from their seats, Briar moving out of his way as he stomped past them. "You're _not_ ready."

As soon as the doors slid closed, an alarm went off and Superman's visage appeared on a large screen that Briar hadn't noticed before.

"Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

The mentors gathered around the screen. "I've had my suspicions about Cadmus," Batman commented. "This may present the perfect opportunity to in—"

Another alarm went off and a familiar face appeared on the screen. Zatara, an Italian magician who manipulated magic by speaking backwards, also appeared on the screen, although his portrait didn't take up nearly as much of it as Superman's portrait did. "The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response."

Briar wracked her brain, trying to remember where she'd heard of the amulet. She knew the owner of said amulet, but she couldn't remember ever hearing of such paraphernalia.

Batman turned to the Kryptonian. "Superman?"

"It's a small fire. Local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait." Batman pressed a button on the control panel in front of him. "All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out."

Briar slowly stepped toward the group of League members, the remaining protégés following her. Batman turned to them, looking directly at Robin sternly. "Stay put."

"What? Why?" Robin asked the questions on the protégés' minds.

Aquaman put his hands on his hips. "This is a League mission."

Flash added, "You're not trained."

"Since when?" Kid Flash looked to his mentor.

"I meant you're not trained to work as a part of this team." He gestured to the remaining mentors.

"There will be other missions when you're ready," Aquaman assured.

"But for now, _stay put_ ," Batman stressed with a slight glare before leaving with the others in an organized manner.

They left a little too slowly for her to think that it would be necessary to involve the entire League, but she also wasn't sure how long it would Wotan to obtain all of the sun's energy, so maybe they could afford to leave that slowly. Cadmus, on the other hand, had her interested. Why had it exploded? Why would Superman contact the League if he knew local authorities had everything under control? Was it because he knew that Batman was suspicious of it?

Briar had gotten out her cards again, fiddling with them as Kid Flash scoffed. "When we're ready? How're we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like—like sidekicks?"

Aqualad looked to the floor, a hurt look in his pale green eyes. "My mentor—my king—I thought he trusted me."

"As did I." Briar shuffled the cards, coming across a Two of Hearts. "Altair and I…I thought we kept no secrets from each other. T'think he wouldn't trust me with somethin' like that…"

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've gotta secret HQ _in_ space!" Kid Flash pointed above himself.

"What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad raised an eyebrow, looking down at his fellow protégés curiously. He was at least a head taller than everyone else.

"I have a better question," Robin said. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

Briar felt conflicted now. While Speedy had been telling the truth, she'd been hoping it was something he'd dreamed up or a lie Green Arrow had told him. To know the truth hurt. Altair didn't trust her as much as she'd like to believe. Her hands gripped her cards tightly, bending the deck. Taking a deep breath, she fought off her anger. If Altair didn't trust her, she'd have to make him do it, and there was only way that she could think to do it.

It seemed she wasn't the only one thinking that way. "What _is_ Project Cadmus?" Aqualad asked, breaking the brief silence that permeated the room.

"Don't know," a smile built on Robin's masked face. "But I can find out." he stepped toward the large control panel, typing away.

"I know somethings about the story of Cadmus, if y'all wanna hear 'em," Briar piped up.

Aqualad nodded for her to continue.

"Cadmus—or _Kadmos_ , as the Greeks pronounce it—was the founder and king of Thebes. He is known to have killed a sacred serpent, which had killed his men. It's said that after he sowed the serpent's teeth into the ground, the _Spartoi_ — _amazing_ ancient warriors—came into existence. So, I'm figurin' that, maybe, it has something to do with creating warriors?" she questioned, watching Robin's fingers fly across the keyboard.

"Access denied," a robotic voice told him as the words blinked on the screen in a bright red font.

He chuckled, a cheeky smile on his face appearing once again. "Wanna bet?" he began typing something else into the computer.

"Whoa," Kid Flash mumbled in amazement. "How _are_ you doing that?"

"Same system as the Batcave," Robin said smugly, pressing one last key. The computer let him in this time and pulled up what he was looking for. "All right, Project Cadmus. Genetics lab here in D.C." he looked to Aqualad. "That's all there is, but if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate," Robin looked to his fellow protégés.

"Solve their case before they do," Aqualad simplified. "It would be poetic justice."

"Hey. They're all about justice."

He sighed. "But they said stay put."

Briar looked to them with a wide grin. "I took that as 'Stay put for the sun mission.' Not this. Anybody else?"

"Wait," Kid Flash said with a grin growing on his face, putting a hand on Robin's shoulders as he bounced on his heels. "Are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going." He was starting to get excited, just like the rest of them.

Together, they turned and grinned at Aqualad.

"Just like that—we're a team on a mission?" he asked.

"We didn't come for a play date," Robin said, hands on his hips.

"This'll be fun," Briar muttered, absently shuffling her deck of cards.

* * *

Briar sighed as she, Robin and Aqualad stopped in front of the Cadmus building, seeing Kid Flash hanging from one of the window sills by his hands. "So smooth," Robin mumbled sarcastically.

Briar pulled a three of clubs from her deck of cards as she walked to the front of the building. "Summon: Winding Ivy!" the card went up in flames—preventing her from ever using it again—as vines erupted from the ground, scaling up the building until she told the ivy to stop. "Okay, I have about two more minutes t'climb up this building. I can do this."

Without another word, Briar scrambled up the ivy as Robin joined her on the windowsill. He found a computer and tried to hack into it as the ivy disappeared, leaving what looked like glittering rain down from the side of the building.

Aqualad appeared a few minutes later from the same windowsill, looking a bit peeved. "Appreciate the help," he said sarcastically.

"You handled it," Robin said, looking away from the computer screen for a moment before turning back to it. "Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

Briar looked around, unable to focus on her new "teammates." The room was dark, but it looked like they were in an office of some kind, complete with a bulletin board full of paper that she didn't bother to read. She followed Aqualad down a hallway, rearranging her cards and attempting to take everything in.

The low _beep_ of an elevator got her attention. "What's—?"

"There was something in the—!"

Kid Flash, who apparently also heard the noise, sped toward them. "Elevators should be locked down."

Robin joined them, scanning the elevator with a holographic computer in his glove. "This is wrong," he said as he typed something into it. "Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building."

"Neither does what I saw," Aqualad gave the elevator an odd look.

"Then what're they doin' here?" Briar wondered aloud as Aqualad forced the elevator doors open with a grunt. She moved to see how far down it was, and saw small lights that went down and down until she couldn't see the bottom.

She frowned. Why did Cadmus need all this space? What were they hiding? She glanced to Aqualad, wondering what he'd seen in the elevator that she missed. Briar had only seen it close, but he'd clearly seen something extraordinary in it and now she had to know what it was.

"And _that's_ why they need an express elevator," Robin said, shooting a grappling gun into the top of the elevator shaft. He jumped down, leading the way.

Kid Flash followed as Briar put her cards away. She turned to Aqualad, who gestured for her to go next. "Ladies first," he said.

"Well, just aren't you the gentleman?" Briar laughed, grabbing the rope.

When Robin's line ended, he swung onto the side of the elevator shaft, with Kid Flash following. They helped Briar and Aqualad join them before Robin started hacking again.

"Bypassing security…" he mumbled as Briar watched as cartoon versions of Robin's face turn from red to green. When they all turned green, he exclaimed, "There! Go!"

Aqualad forced the doors open again, allowing them to step inside. The room didn't have much light, but seemed to glow a pale, menacing red color. Generator-looking things lined the walls, emitting a red light.

Briar barely noticed Kid Flash putting his goggles on his head before he took off. "Kid, wait," she and Aqualad whispered harshly.

Kid Flash slipped as he tried to slow down, almost getting crushed under a mammoth-sized creature which had large horns atop its head that was vaguely reminiscent of a gorilla. The ones she saw also had tusks and large bottom teeth that extended past their mandibles and were in a variety of dark colors. One roared as a small gnome-monkey looking thing looked down to the protégés.

"No, _nothing_ odd going on here," Aqualad said sarcastically, sounding a bit tired. Why he sounded this way was something Briar didn't know. Was he tired of them—his teammates? Or, was it because of the trip?

She let out a tired sigh, rolling her head back. So much for playing games with the guys later.

* * *

"Okay, I'm officially whelmed," Robin said as the door in front of them slid open.

This room was bathed in a teal light produced by small creatures that reminded her of bugs in large tubes. Electricity crackled in the room as Briar nervously shuffled her deck. Her whole body was screaming at her to leave Cadmus and never come back. She was nearly shaking and her knees felt a bit weak. The further they got into Cadmus the worse she felt. She feared she'd be physically sick if they continued.

But that wasn't right. She should've been used to this kinda stuff—she and Altair did things like this more often than either of them would admit. So why was she feeling so off? Was it because of the room they were in? Yeah, that had to be it. This color combined with the "insects" bothered her—that must've been it. Briar was hopeful that she was right and the feeling would pass when they left.

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world." Kid Flash examined the room for a moment before turning back to the others. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power with these… _things_." He turned to one of the containers, hands on his hips. "Must be what they're bred for."

"Even the name is clue," Aqualad realized, looking to each of them before nodding to Briar. "As Briar said, the Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragons' teeth into the earth."

"And this Cadmus creates new life, too." Robin walked over to the nearest control panel. "Let's find out why." He scanned the information on his screen quickly. "They call 'em 'Genomorphs. Whoa! Look at the stats on these things—super strength, telepathy, razor claws—these are living weapons!"

"They're engineering an army, but for who?" Kid Flash wondered, reading over Robin's shoulder.

"Wait—there's something else. Project Kr." Robin grunted, attempting to find out more. "The file's triple-encrypted. I can't—"

"Don't move!" a low voice commanded.

Briar turned, seeing Guardian—a hero with a golden helmet and a small "army" of Genomorphs—running toward them. He stopped a few yards short of running into them. The sickening feeling in her stomach grew worse at the sight of the Genomorphs at his side. She didn't know why he had them, but she wanted them gone.

"Wait. Robin, Aqualad, Briar, Kid Flash?"

"At least he got your name right," Robin sent a grin to Kid Flash as he turned to look back at his computer.

"I know you," Aqualad said. "Guardian—a hero."

"I do my best."

Kid Flash glared at him. "Then what're you doing here?"

"I'm chief of security. You're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League—figure this out."

"You mean y'really think the League's gonna approve of y'all's weapon-makin'?" Briar shuffled her cards again, attempting to hide her ill feelings and calm herself.

"Weapons?" Guardian asked, eyes wide. "What are you—What have I—" he let out a pained groan as the horns of the Genomorph on his shoulder began to glow a pale red. "Take 'em down hard! No mercy!" he exclaimed.

The Genomorphs that had followed him growled, racing toward the protégés. Robin was quick to throw a smoke pellet to the ground and shoot his grapple gun to get him onto the support beams on the room.

In a panic, Briar drew a card from her deck and looked at it quickly. Queen of Hearts wasn't going to help here. She placed it back into the deck and redrew a card, getting a Joker. "That'll have t'do. Summon: Hollowed Harlequins!" The card erupted in flames as a Joker appeared from the card. It was black on one side and white on the other.

As it took on a few of the Genomorphs, Briar made a run for it. She knew it wouldn't last long; Jokers were only used to buy a bit of time. An alarm was blaring by the time she found Robin, who was hacking into another elevator system.

"D'ja have t'leave everybody, Rob?!" she exclaimed. "I had t'use a Joker to get outta that mess. D'you _know_ how many Jokers are in a deck a cards? Two! I have one left, and I'd appreciate ya not makin' me use it anymore 'an what's necessary!"

"I'll buy you a new deck later, promise!"

Kid Flash joined them. "Way to be a team player, _Rob!_ At least Briar tried to buy us a little time with what she did!"

Robin finished hacking, looking to him. "Weren't you right behind me?"

The elevator door slid open as Aqualad ran to join them, rolling into the elevator as the door closed. Briar looked at the floor number and noticed it was going up. Why were they not trying to escape? She gave Robin a questioning look.

Aqualad and Kid Flash voiced her thoughts. "We're headed down?"

"Dude, out is up." Kid Flash pointed above them with a finger.

"Excuse me? 'Project Kr' is down on sub-level fifty-two." Robin replied.

Briar shuffled her deck again as Aqualad ran a hand through his hair, "This out of control. Perhaps…perhaps we _should_ contact the League."

The elevator let out a _ding_ as they reach sub-level fifty-two. The doors slid open and revealed a space that was bathed in a red hue that almost reminded Briar of blood. The walls were covered in what looked like large, red egg sacks. She and Robin ran out into the hallway as Briar shuffled her cards again, her stomach churning. Just what _were_ these red things? Why did they look so… squishy?

"This place's givin' me the creeps, y'all. I'll be glad when we get outta here." She followed Robin, who stopped when they came across branching hallways.

"Which way?" Aqualad asked, coming up behind her.

"Yeah. Bizarre-looking hallway one, or bizarre-looking hallway two?" Robin gestured to each hallway with a hand.

 _"Halt!"_ Briar jumped at the sudden sound of a foreign voice in her head.

A tall Genomorph who looked more humanoid than the others moved to stand in their way. His skin, like the others, was gray, but his horns were longer and he wore clothes—white nursing scrubs from the look of them. His horns began to glow and what looked like small trash cans flew toward them, exploding a few feet away from them.

Briar nearly shrieked, pulling a card from her deck. Before she could summon anything, Aqualad grabbed her wrist, pulling her down a hallway. Kid Flash led the way, running at his usual in-human speed down the hallway. As they rounded a corner, Briar noticed him picking something up, using it to keep a closing door open. "Hurry!" he called.

Aqualad had let go of her wrist after making sure she would keep up with them. She was quick to pass the Atlantean and Robin, making her way through the door before Robin. Her heart pounding, Briar nearly jumped out of her skin as the door slammed shut from Aqualad's kicking it closed.

"I disabled the door," Robin said. "We're safe."

"We're trapped," Aqualad corrected.

"Uh, guys!" Kid Flash called from behind them, "You'll wanna see this."

Briar turned and nearly gasped. A large container was in the center of the room, and what it held didn't help quiet the anxious voice telling her to leave. Labeled "Kr," the container held a young man who looked a bit older than her—probably sixteen-years-old—asleep, resting against an uncomfortable-looking, almost stretcher-like table. He wore a white solar suit that seemed to glow, with a symbol like the one Superman wore on his chest in red. His hair was black, and Briar couldn't help but notice small Genomorphs like the one Guardian had on his shoulder above the boy.

"Whoa!" Robin exclaimed.

Kid Flash walked toward the container. "Big 'K,' little 'r;' the atomic symbol for krypton!" he turned back to them. "Clone?"

Aqualad turned to Robin. "Robin, hack."

"Too young t'be a clone, innit?" Briar wondered, forcing her voice to remain steady, pulling another card from her deck before putting it back in.

"Weapon designation 'Superboy,' a clone force-grown in… sixteen weeks?! From DNA acquired from Superman," Robin read aloud from his holographic computer on his glove.

" _Stolen_ from Superman," Aqualad corrected again, looking to Superboy.

"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash murmured.

Briar looked at Superboy curiously. "Hey, Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"Can ya find out how they got his DNA? I mean, obvi'sly, they stoled it, but I'm wonderin' how he wouldn'ta known, y'know?"

"Let's see…" Robin continued reading. "Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four-seven… Nothing in here about how they got Superman's DNA, though. Sorry, Briar."

"Yer fine," she waved it off, looking away from Superman's clone. It was odd to look at him. He didn't look exactly like the Superman she was used to seeing, but he was younger. Maybe this was what Superman looked like at their age?

"And these creatures?" Aqualad, pointing to the Genomorphs on Robin's screen.

"Genomorph Gnomes," Robin answered. "Telepathic—force-feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else," Kid Flash's voice sounded slightly scared, nervous, as he spoke. Briar didn't blame him; she was scared too. "They're making a slave out of—well—Superman's son."

"Now we contact the League," Aqualad suggested.

Briar sighed, tapping on her comm. link. "Hello? Altair? Ya there?" Static greeted her. She shook her head. "Way too far down to work, huh? Kinda figured we would be."

"No signal," Robin said.

"We're in too deep… literally," Kid Flash murmured, turning to face Superboy. "This is wrong."

"We can't leave him like this," Robin agreed.

"We'd be no better 'n Cadmus if we did that." Briar nodded, looking at her cards. She felt calmer as she stared at them. She shuffled them again, infusing more of her magic into them. She took in a deep breath before looking to the container again.

"Set him free. Do it," Aqualad decided.

Robin tapped a few things on his screen and looked back at the container as it started to open. Superboy's hand flexed and his eyes opened, revealing them to be a hazy, unfocused blue. Briar noticed the Genomorph Gnomes above him stirred, their horns now glowing.

Before anyone could anything, Superboy was off the stretcher-like table, tackling Aqualad and rolling with him a few feet. Briar drew a card from her deck—a Two of Clubs—before drawing another one—Three of Spades. She grinned as Kid Flash and Robin tried to restrain the boy.

"Don't have long t'use these… Better make 'em count. Summon: Overlord Vines!"

Dark green vines began to wrap around Superboy as he threw Kid Flash off him. Briar pulled another card from her deck before she felt something slam into her. It felt like a few tons of brick that sent her flying back. The last thing she remembered was feeling her back erupt in pain as something shattered.

* * *

 **[A/N]** Hey guys! So, I hope y'all like the "new" Briar. I think she's more fun to work with than the old one, and I'm glad I rewrote this. For those of you who want the pairing to be something other than Robin/OC (I know you're out there somewhere), I have news for you. I'm working on things for Superboy and Aqualad. I will not be doing one Kid Flash as I ship him with Artemis way too much to break that up. I also like Superboy and—wait, no, I can't say that yet, she isn't part of the story yet...

Anyways, if you have any questions you'd like me answer about Briar, leave a review, PM me, contact me in some way, and I shall try to answer. If you have a complaint, I accept constructive criticism.

I love you guys and hope your dreams come true…unless you've only nightmares, in which case, I wish you pleasant dreams and the happy life you deserve! 😊


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